CLEAR Commission 7th Quarterly Meeting Minutes September 8

FINAL

The Pennsylvania Citizen Law Enforcement Advisory and Review (CLEAR) Commission Quarterly Meeting Minutes Monday, September 8, at 10:00 a.m. (In person and at The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and Virtually via Microsoft Teams Platform) At 9:00 a.m. Administrative Session Christa Caceres, Commission Chairwoman, called to order the Administrative Session which included discussion of various administrative items and a review of the Commission's meeting Agenda. A pre-roll call was administered by Secretary Amy Zapp. Administrative and procedural matters were discussed. At 9:45 a.m. The Administrative session was adjourned. At 10:04 a.m. Public Meeting Started and Recording Began Chairwoman Caceres opened the meeting stating the date, time and made the audience aware that the meeting was being recorded. At 10:05 a.m. Introduction of, and Roll Call by, Secretary Commissioner Amy Zapp Secretary Commissioner Amy Zapp, Esq read the names of all Commission voting members aloud and those present whether in person or virtually responded by announcing their presence. 9 voting members (Commissioner Leon Ford was absent) were in attendance and a quorum of the Commission's voting members was met. It should be noted that Benjamin Lerner was having some technical difficulties at the start of the meeting but eventually joined. A copy of the Roll Call and Attendance Form is attached [see Attachment 1]. Chair Caceres ascertained a quorum and moved the meeting forward. At 10:08 a.m. Introduction of Ex-Officio Members and Designees: Representing the Office of Governor: Deputy Chief of Staff Michael Pipe Representing the Office of General Counsel: General Counsel Jennifer Selber

General Counsel Designees: Deputy General Counsel Kelly Sekula and Deputy General Counsel Anne Gingrich Cornick Representing the Pennsylvania State Police: Colonel Christopher L. Paris PA State Police Designees: Major Jonathon Rush and Major Peter Gutowski Representing the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources: Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn and the agency designee, Deputy Secretary John Norbeck, in his absence Chief Ranger William Thornberger Representing the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency: Executive Director Kirsten Kenyon Representing the PA Department of Corrections: Secretary Laurel Harry and the agency designee, Deputy Secretary for Parole Field Services Deborah Carpenter and Representing the Capitol Police: Chief Joseph Jacob At 10:10 a.m. Adoption of July 9, 2025, meeting minutes Chair Caceres asked for a motion to adopt and accept the meeting minutes from the July 9th meeting minutes. A unanimous vote to adopt the meeting minutes was taken and accepted as official record. At 10:11 a.m. Presentation and Voting of Preliminary Reports from Bias-Based, Use of Force and Critical Incident Chair Caceres announced that the CLEAR Commission has completed the third round of case reviews for our three designated committees as outlined in the Executive Order. The Governor's Executive Order 2023-21 provides for the process in which the CLEAR Commission will follow under Section 4(1)(a-c): The Commission is authorized to review covered agencies completed internal investigative findings related to allegations of use of force and bias-based policing. We review events, policies, practices and procedures and make recommendations to correct any perceived policy or training deficiency when and where appropriate for covered agencies following the completion of a case review.

• Biased Based Policing Review Committee Chair - Kevin Mahoney
• Read the summary of facts for the record.
• Stated Preliminary Findings and Conclusions
• The Bias Based Review Committee recommends that the DOC develop an Internal Affairs/Investigation policy for Parole Field Services to include:  DOC should continue the full implementation of the 2024 procedures for handling Bias Based complaints and the commissions corrective action reports for Bias Based case BB 21-

2024.

• Chair Caceres opened the floor for any comments from the Commission. None
  offered. Chair Caceres opened the floor for any public comments. None offered. Chair Caceres moved to a vote on the Bias Based Policing Preliminary Report. o 9 voting members present - voted unanimously to adopt the Bias Based Policing Preliminary Report.

• Use of Force Review Committee Chair - David Sonenshein:

• Read the summary of facts for the record.

• Stated Preliminary Findings and Conclusions

• The Use of Force Review Committee found no evidence warranting any
  corrective action.  All uses of force were determined to be consistent with existing departmental policies governing such actions.

• Chair Caceres opened the floor to Commissioners for comment. No
  comment. Opened the floor to public comment. No public comment. Chair Caceres moved to a vote on the Preliminary Report for The Use of Force Committee:  9 voting members present - voted unanimously to adopt the Use of Force Preliminary Report.

• Critical Incident Review Committee Chair - Christa Caceres

• Read the summary of facts for the record.

• Stated Preliminary Findings and Conclusions
   Found that the case to be prompt within PSP regulations; the shooting was justified, and the trooper was returned to full duty status; based upon the facts contained within PSP's comprehensive written summary and oral presentation, the review committee finds that the case was complete; additionally, the committee found no concern related to fairness and impartiality. The case was presented to be free of any conflict of interest based upon the summary and documentation submitted for review; based upon the facts and documentation provided by PSP the investigative findings were reasonable based on the totality and in accordance with PSP protocol.

• The Critical Incident Review Committee found no evidence warranting any
  recommendations for corrective action and finding no policy or training deficiencies.

• Chair Caceres opened the floor to Commissioners for comment. No comment.
  Opened the floor to public comment. No public comment. Chair Caceres moved to a vote on the Preliminary Report for The Critical Incident Committee:

 9 voting members present - voted unanimously to adopt the Critical Incident Preliminary Report. 10:27 a.m. Chair Caceres Announced the Date of the Next Quarterly Meeting December 2, 2025, in Harrisburg, at PCCD with more details to be announced in the coming weeks. 10:28 a.m. Public Comment Chair Caceres opened the floor for public comment - Participants were asked to use the "raise hand" feature and provide their name, city, and state. Comments were limited to two minutes each. No public comments were offered. 10:29 a.m. Motion to Adjourn With no further business to consider, a motion to adjourn was made, seconded, and approved, Chair Caceres requested a motion to adjourn.